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Our history

In the late nineteenth century, Edward Rudolf, a young Sunday school teacher and civil servant in South London, found himself confronted by the brutal effects of poverty on the lives of children.

When two young boys failed to turn up for his Sunday school, he went to look for them and was shocked to find them begging for food on the streets. Their father had died, leaving their mother struggling to bring up seven children under 11 years old.

Theirs was not an isolated experience and Rudolf was moved to act.

He approached Archbishop Tait to express his concern for children living on the margins of society and suggesting that the Church of England should be at the forefront of social action for such children. The Archbishop agreed enthusiastically and, soon after, the Church of England Central Home for Waifs and Strays was established.